Reading Specialist

Welcome to Literacy Specialist, Mr. Gabriel's, Literacy Coaching and Interventionist Web Page! I am thrilled that you've visited. Please browse to uncover some of the awesomeness of literacy:
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I am thrilled to be joining the Shaner team! At the Hess Complex, I experienced numerous, exciting learning explorations with students. My placements include a 3rd grade inclusive classroom; grade 5 mathematics, science, and social studies learning resource center and in-class support; and most currently, grade 2 ELA learning resource center and in-class support. I placed a comprehensive emphasis on English Language Arts within core subject areas of mathematics, science, and social studies. This new adventure and its capacity to assist both students, families, and staff is the ultimate factor and reason behind my motivation to continue my learning journey to support staff, children and their family, and to build additional, robust enjoyment of English literacy for everyone.

Classroom Practices

-Planning alongside classroom teachers

-Co-teaching lessons

-Model lessons during class and more
-Interactive and Observational Lab sites

I am thrilled to extend my loyal support and enthusiasm to our Shaner School family. Please stop by at any time. I look forward to meeting everyone. The learning adventures begin here… Telephone Extension: (609) 476-6309

Curricular Overviews for English Language Arts (ELA) in Kindergarten

Reading: During our Readers’ Workshop, early learners begin to explore how to explore, approach, and engage with dimensions of printed and audio text including illustrations and printed symbols with alphabetic responsiveness. Emergent skills include how to look to find meaning and patterns within illustration, and gradually involving letter-sound skills to enhance further meaning. Paired, simple word sentence structure and picture clues assist student communication skills in order to support comprehension, discussion-based, and inquiry-based learning. Teachers guide lessons through structured conferences which support individual learners’ readiness by using prompting and interactive dialogue components. Non-fiction texts are introduced, as well, bridging “real world” concepts with exploratory and fact-based strategies found within text. Young readers will build resiliency through quality, interactive read-aloud story times in order to encourage practical life skill components including manners, behavior, and responsibility while exploring and discovering storylines, setting, and character attributes and traits.

Writing: During our Writers’ Workshop, early writers discover how to explore patterns and how to list and use them to support sketching ideas “across” pages. Young writers will identify characteristics of make-believe and factual stories, and they will use those ideas to frame an original story. Wordless books are also featured to support the development of the nature of the “storyteller” within children and how children can utilize concepts of both imagination and realism. Young writers will also learn how to create “How-To” miniature informational books which supports and focuses students upon the instructional process, as well as outlining students as “experts” on self-selected topics. Persuasive writing and the creation of “early stories” elaborates young writers’ point-of-view while focusing on story grammar/structures (problem-solution, setting, plot). Young writers learn how to illustrate sequence of events, as well as explore and highlight lessons learned, or morals, throughout the year’s units. It is an exciting year of foundation-building, as students, for the first time, transform thoughts and ideas into pictures, and finally, words, through storytelling and story creation.

First Grade

Reading: In our Grade One Reading Workshop, readers learn how to build “strong reading habits” in order to establish sturdy and helpful strategies to continue assist them while exploring illustrations and photographs, recognize and use letter-sound correspondence, and how to form questions from what is explored/read and communicated. Readers will set reading goals and begin to build stamina and momentum with both fluency and comprehension. “Word Detectives” studies enable and motivate (and challenge) students to deconstruct and analyze parts of words and how sounds are used to configure different representations for enunciation, phrasing, and meaning, while character book studies immerse students in perspective and point-of-view via Readers’ Theatre’s emphases on behavior, action, purpose, and motivation relative to stories’ characters. Exploration of multiple genres of literature are investigated including traditional storytelling forms (fairytales, folktales, etc.), poetry, and song. A capstone in Grade 1 is the introduction of self-guided and self-solving strategies for readers to use on his or her own during independent reading. Specific strategies are taught to students that will enable them to become more confidant and independent explorers within their reading in order to deepen both accountability and meaningfulness.

Writing: Grade 1 writers begin with learning how to compose “small moment” stories which encapsulate writers’ experiences and enhance problem-solving and oral and written storytelling readiness/capabilities. Investigation of informative chapter books brings to life areas of non-fiction including text formatting presentations including vocabulary studies, how to use a table of contents and an index, and how text fonts help determine importance. Review writing showcases students’ interests and how opinions are formulated and strengthened and further during “Authors as Mentors,” students maintain “expertise” about chosen topics. Realistic fiction accentuates both imaginative components and real world skills and problem-solving strategies while practicing writing. Poetry and song studies reinforce literary terminology usage and practices of rhyme scheme, alliteration, onomatopoeia and vocalization, expressiveness, and phrasing of words in order to reveal or tell a story.